Fire probed at property where owner fed bears

Aug 29 2012

Mounties are investigating a suspicious fire at a Christina Lake property where the owner once pleaded guilty to feeding bears that apparently guarded a marijuana plantation.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Jim Harrison of the Grand Forks detachment, in southeastern B.C., said a water bomber and a helicopter were used to contain the blaze that spread to the surrounding forest and outbuildings on Tuesday night.

Property owner Allan Piché was fined $6,000 in May on two charges of feeding bears.

He was arrested in 2010 when police investigating a grow-op discovered tame black bears that watched passively as 1,100 marijuana plants were removed from the property.

Piché pleaded guilty to feeding the animals dog food, and then was charged a second time with the same offence.